2023-05-31 14:45:48
After blood transfusion, bone graft transplantation is the second most performed medical procedure in the world, with more than 2.2 million grafts implanted each year. However, this procedure still has limitations, as it is a painful and costly process that can entail risks for the patient, such as graft rejection and disease transmission.
When it is not possible to carry out this procedure or the graft transplant fails, alternatives such as prostheses are considered. Some of the most common applications for prostheses are for knee and hip joint replacement, with one million surgeries each year in the United States and European Union countries alone. However, 10% of these implants end up failing, mainly due to two factors: the lack of integration of the implants with the surrounding bone tissue (a process known as osseointegration), and the appearance of infectious conditions, which favor the formation of biofilms. bacteria resistant to the defenses of the immune system and antibiotics.
To avoid these two problems with implants, the Bio-TUNE project emerged, led by the Biomaterials, Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering Research Group (BBT) of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia – BarcelonaTech (UPC), with the researcher Carles Mas in front. The project focuses on the creation of multifunctional materials that offer both efficient adhesion to patient tissues and high bactericidal potential.
The objective is to minimize the risks of rejection of the implant, as explained by Carles Mas, principal investigator of the project and professor at the East Barcelona School of Engineering (EEBE): “The Bio-TUNE project aims to solve the two main problems that present in these procedures simultaneously, generating new materials that, on the one hand, improve the integration of implants with tissues and, on the other, efficiently inhibit the adhesion of bacteria to surfaces”.
Carles Mas, Patricia López and Nerea García working with different samples in the Biomaterials Laboratory of the UPC. (Photo: UPC)
To achieve these goals, Bio-TUNE consists of three pillars: “First, we try to understand what are the mechanisms involved in the interaction of cells and bacteria with the surfaces of an implant. With this knowledge, we can then develop strategies that allow us to control these processes.We do this by taking inspiration from nature, from processes that naturally allow bone to regenerate or inhibit bacterial adhesion.Finally, the Bio-TUNE project also aims to assess how these new strategies could be transformed into new products that have a final impact on society, so that we can, in the long run, have dental implants, orthopedic implants, etc., with higher success rates. Thus, we will avoid new surgeries and the associated problems”, explains Carles Further.
To carry out the Bio-TUNE project, a consortium of ten research groups, universities and institutions from Europe, Asia and South America has been formed, made up of specialists in biology, materials science and engineering, biomedicine, pharmacology and chemistry. , among other disciplines.
Until now, within the framework of the project, sensors have been designed to monitor cell activity and to be able to differentiate the behavior of cells and bacteria. Nanoscale surfaces have also been developed with patterns and reliefs that favor the interaction of materials with cells. And work has been done on the development of agents with bactericidal action, based on the identification of molecules that would replace antibiotics, thus reducing the current problem of resistance to these drugs. These solutions will be implemented in multifunctional coatings and materials, which can simultaneously promote tissue integration and prevent the proliferation of germs. (Source: UPC)
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